Our Wild Card bracket returns with a pair of Danish sparklers!

The Khedive of Egypt Tiara vs. Queen Alexandrine’s Sapphire Tiara

The Khedive of Egypt Tiara

The diamond scroll tiara, made by Cartier, was Crown Princess Margareta of Sweden’s wedding gift from Khedive Abbas II of Egypt. The gift was especially sentimental, because Margareta and her husband, the future King Gustaf VI Adolf, had fallen in love in Cairo. The lovely jewel was able to be worn as a traditional tiara, or taken off the frame and worn as a corsage ornament. When Margaret died, the tiara was inherited by her only daughter, Queen Ingrid of Denmark. All three of Ingrid’s daughters, as well as three of her granddaughters, have worn the tiara on their wedding days. When Ingrid died in 2000, the tiara was bequeathed to her youngest daughter, the former Queen Anne-Marie of Greece. She continues to wear the jewel (and lend it to other family members) today.

Queen Alexandrine’s Sapphire Tiara

This diamond and sapphire tiara, which is generally attributed to Bolin, was given by Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra of Russia to an imperial cousin, Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, when she married another cousin, the future King Christian X of Denmark, in 1898. The piece was originally a convertible bandeau. In 1933, Queen Alexandrine gave the jewel to her daughter-in-law, Princess Caroline-Mathilde. From Caroline-Mathilde, the tiara passed to her son, Count Christian of Rosenborg. After the deaths of Christian and his wife, Countess Anne-Dorte, the tiara was sold. Delightfully, though, the new owner recently loaned the tiara to a new exhibition at the Amalienborg Museum.